Heat's on Dallas as NBA season opens

Basketball Dallas, Texas

MIAMI exacted a small measure of payback in beating Dallas 105-94 in its finals rematch as the truncated NBA season finally got under way on Sunday.

Heat superstar LeBron James had 37 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a Christmas Day win that was far more dominant than the 11-point margin suggests.

Players returned to the court after a bitter labour dispute that resulted in the season being shortened by 16 games.

The Mavericks started the day by raising the championship banner to commemorate last season's 4-2 finals victory over the Heat, but their new-look roster was well off the pace. They were down by 15 after one quarter, 21 at half-time, and 35 a few minutes into the second half.

Advertisement

Miami made it look easy, scoring at least 30 points in each of the first three quarters, a highlight being James tipping an alley-oop pass to Dwyane Wade so he could have the dunk.

Wade had 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Heat cemented its status as the pre-season favourite to win it all.

Dallas showed little life until newcomer Lamar Odom was ejected for something he said while arguing a charging call late in the third quarter. Soon after, Jason Terry fuelled a surge that got the Mavs within 17 midway through the fourth.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle recognised how unlikely it was that they would come all the way back, so he kept Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion on the bench the entire final period.

Terry ended up leading Dallas with 23 points. Nowitzki scored 21 in three quarters. Marion scored 12, and Delonte West added 10 in his Dallas debut.

West also started the second half in place of another newcomer, Vince Carter, who had five points, two rebounds and three steals in 21 minutes.

In New York, Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points, including a pair of free throws with the game tied and 16 seconds left, as New York managed to survive a seesaw season-opener to beat Boston 106-104.

Amare Stoudemire added 21 points and Toney Douglas had 19 for the Knicks, who led by 17 in the first half, trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter, then pulled out a thrilling Christmas victory.

Rajon Rondo had 31 points and 13 assists, nearly leading the Celtics back without an injured Paul Pierce.

But Kevin Garnett missed a jumper just before the buzzer, the kind of shot Boston always seems to make against the Knicks.

For the 10th time in 14 Christmases, the Lakers lost, though this one took some doing. They blew a six-point lead in the last 45 seconds, falling to the Chicago Bulls, 88-87.

The Lakers missed four free throws in the final 1:39, but still led, 87-86, when Kobe Bryant, playing with a torn ligament in his right wrist, made a bad pass that Luol Deng intercepted with 16 seconds left. Derrick Rose then hit a nine-foot runner with four seconds left, giving the Bulls their only lead of the fourth quarter.